Introduction:

The genus Erythroxylum is composed of 230 species distributed in subtropical regions of South America, these are used by the traditional population for the treatment of various disorders, such as fever, asthma, sinusitis, flu, bleeding, amenorrhea, viral disorders, among others.

Aim:

To carry out a systematic literature review on the in vitro biological activities of species of the genus Erythroxylum.

Methodology:

For this study, the following electronic databases were used: LILACS, PubMed, SciELO, ScienceDirect and BIREME. The descriptors consulted were: Erythroxylum AND in vitro.

Results and discussion:

A total of 64 articles were selected to compose the review after using the PRISMA tool and to be evaluated for inclusion and exclusion criteria. This study demonstrated that several species of the genus Erythroxylum presented their biological properties validated through in vitro studies, with emphasis on the antioxidant, antibiotic, anticancer, antihypertensive, anti-diabetic and neuroprotective activities.

Conclusion:

Further studies should be carried out in order to elucidate the biological properties of Erythroxylum sp., since only 30 species of the genus have been studied so far.